Never leave your hat on the bed

There is an old superstition that goes - it is bad luck to leave your hat on the bed.

When and where this superstition came from is lost. A good guess is that some unfortunate bloke went to work and left his hat on the bed. The rain gave him a cold and he died in bed.
The hat business has been in decline for years, unless one includes the ubiquitous baseball cap.
The decline in the Fedora, the Panama, and the Stetson have many causes. Instead of walking to work or taking the trolley, we ride in an air conditioned or heated car. The fury of Mother Nature has been, for the moment, tamed - until Mother Nature realizes mankind is messing around with climate change and She pours down her revenge.

That is something for politicians to think about.

put your hat over the bed and not on the bed

Speaking of politicians -

John F. Kennedy triggered a disastrous decline in the sales of men's hats by leaving home without his hat and appearing hat-less at his inauguration. William Henry Harrison was hat-less, coat-less, and glove-less and only 31 days after assuming office, the ninth president of the United States, died in bed of pneumonia.

There is an equally plausible explanation for the bad luck no hat superstition. A magician got up one morning and his wife laid out on the bed his tuxedo and top hat while he shaved and showered. When he dressed, he donned the tux and bow tie, put on the white gloves, but left without the hat - and the rabbit.

Bartholomew had a magical hat, in fact he had 500 hats, each one prettier than the last.

Will Rogers had a lucky hat

Will Rogers had a lucky hat. And along with a lariat and a few jokes he parlayed into a full time gig. He didn't joke about the hat, but he liked to say, "Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to somebody else,"and by everybody else, he meant politicians.


For good luck, rodeo cowboys are told they should not place a hat on a bed, eat peanuts, wear yellow, or quit roping practice on a miss. It's an odd combination, but one goes with what works. Besides, out on the range, if a cowboy tosses his hat on his bed roll, he is likely to lie down on it in the dark and flatten it like a cow-patty.

That is bad luck!

Far away in the sunshine

Far away there in the sunshine...

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. LMA

are my highest aspirations

Louisa May Alcott from Elbert Hubbard's Scrap Book: Containing the Inspired and Inspiring Selections, Gathered During a Lifetime of Discriminating Reading for His Own Use, page 62.

believe... and follow where they lead

Elbert Hubbard was, like most of us, a gatherer. He gathered up the spoken thoughts and wisdom of other men and women and this quest lead him far and wide. It was the quest he enjoyed. It is the thoughts and sayings we remember.

Thoughts on a thorn over a cup of coffee

Are you an optimist or pessimist?

A cup of coffee can inspire a thought or two. When you pick a rose and your finger is pricked by a thorn, how do you feel? For pain and pleasure are often associated together.


Alphonse Karr (1808 – 1890) French journalist, novelist, and sometimes horticulturalist observed that some are born to grumble in life and complain that roses have thorns..

Some people grumble because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. Alphonse Karr

As editor of the daily Parisian newspaper, Le Figaro, Karr was known as a bit of a wit, famously saying, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" which has come down to us as, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Let Shakespeare's Juliet would answer those who are hung up on the finer point of things,

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

That is, unless it's fake.

fake roses do not smell as sweet

Optimist or pessimist, I guess it depends on how we see things, or how that cup of coffee tastes.

Curves or Angles

How about them curves? One is driving down the highway and comes to a curve. The excitement and the beauty is not knowing what lies beyond the curve. Is it danger or a beautiful turn in the road that leads on to a green valley? 

Or what about angles? Angles are about change. One is proceeding one way when all of the sudden something new comes about. The change may be sharp and jarring or refreshing. 

So, what are you? 

A curve in the road or a new direction.